ETCHING. - (From the medieval name of nitric acid, aqua fortis). A print obtained by means of a copper plate in which the grooves that receive the ink are hollowed out by the action of an acid and not directly by the burin as in drypoint (v.). The plate is covered with a layer of wax mixed with resin and then blackened with lampblack; with a fine point the subject is incised into it so as to slightly bite into the copper, and the plate is then immersed in a solution of nitric acid (the aqua fortis of the alchemists), which will bite only the exposed parts of the copper, hollowing out grooves in them of greater or lesser depth. Once the varnish is removed, the plate is ready for inking and for printing by means of a press. The first trial prints are called "before letter" [avant la lettre]. Zinc is easier to work than copper, but offers less resistance to the print run. With several plates inked in various ways, color aquatints can be obtained. Prints are usually signed in pencil.
Aquatint does not have the formal rigor and the precise sharpness of engraving with the burin; it does, however, allow greater rapidity, better freshness, and offers a richer range of chiaroscuro. For these reasons the burin appears preferable for prints of a classical genre and for precise reproductions.
(property of B. Degenhart)
Raised to the highest dignity with Rembrandt, whose superb prints of biblical subjects are famous and highly sought after, it was cultivated by Salvator Rosa for groups of brigands and soldiers, by Callot for small scenes of wars and fairs, by Berghem for pastoral subjects, by Tiepolo for ecstasies of saints, by Goya for crude records of wars and bullfights, by Piranesi for romantic visions of classical ruins.
To encourage the a.[acquaforte] and in general all types of engraving, Pope Clement XII established the Calcografia camerale in 1738 by purchasing all the plates of the De Rossi family. If the use of the a.[acquaforte] in the field of sacred art is limited to pictures of the Way of the Cross, cartogloria, images of the crucifix for confessionals, etc., its application in the field of devotional images has been and can still be very vast. - See Pl. XVIII.
Bibliography4 works
Corrado Mezzana